The present invention relates to a protective hood used by a firefighter who is wearing a face mask and a firefighter coat having a collar. This invention is an improvement over my U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,217, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
My previous patent discloses a construction which overcame certain problems encountered in the prior art. However, such a construction proved to have certain deficiencies which need to be rectified.
A particular problem with the structure shown in my patent is that the hood does not interface well with the collar of a firefighter suit worn by a firefighter. The lower portion of the hood is designed to fit within the collar so that the coat overlaps the bottom of the hood. This arrangement does not provide an effective seal between the hood and the coat, and debris can enter the coat through at this location which of course is extremely undesirable. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a satisfactory seal between the hood and an associated firefighter coat.
A further problem with the structure shown in my patent occurs between the hood and a face mask worn by a firefighter during firefighting operations. The hood has an open front portion through which the face mask extends. The interface between the open front portion and the mask does not always protect the face of the firefighter because gaps may be formed in the interface through which debris may enter into the face mask. A further object of the invention is to provide a good seal between the open front portion of the hood and the mask.